Improvement in car-brakes



UNITED STATES ELIoT r. HAERINGTON, or voLUsIA, NEw YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-BRAKES.

Specification` formingpart of' Letters Patent No. 144,537, dated November 11, 1873 application iiled September 27, 1873. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Error P. HARRINGT'ON, of Volusia in the county of Chautauqua and State of N7 ew York, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Wagon and.V Car Brakes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings making a part of this specification, and to the letters and igures of reference markedthereon.

Figure l of the drawing is a representation of vertical longitudinal sectional view of my wagon and car brake. Fig. 2`is a bottom view of the same.

This invention relates to improvements on railroad car brakes, wherein all the brakes throughout a train are controlled by the engineer in the act lof starting and stops ping the engine. My object is to connect together the swinging brake-bars of each pair of wheels or each truck by means of suitable. springs7 the recoil of which will forcibly press the brake-shoes against the peripheries of the wheels, and to" combine therewith a longitudinally-sliding draw-bar, a double-actin g lever, and two doubleacting releasing-bars, whereby the brakes will be automatically released from the wheels when the train is moved l backward or forward, and automatically applied thereto by the said springs in the act of stoppingthe train, as will be hereinafter explained. y y l lThe following description of my invention will enable others skilled in .the art io understand it.

` In the annexed drawings, A represents the bed of a railroad-car, and B B are the wheels thereof, the axles of which are journaledin boxes, in the usual well-known manner. C C represent horizontal transverse brake-bars, which are suspended from the car-bed by means of longitudinally-vibratin g hangers a a, and `provided with brake-shoes b b on their ends,

which are adapted to it snugly against the peripheries of the wheels. D D represent springs of the helical kind, which connect together the brake-bars G C in pairs, and which should be of such strength that by their recoil alone they will draw the brake-shoes against the wheels with the required force. The drawing represents two pairs of wheels provided with the brakes and brake-springs, as above described. E E represent two rods, which are designed for releasing the brakes from their wheels, and which are arranged one above and the other below `the two intermediate brakebars Cn G, and curved so that their extremities abut against the inner sides of the two outer y brake-bars C C, as seen in Fig. l. `The outer s ends of these releasing-rods are supported by s guides c c, which are secured to the brake-rods. These rods E E have shoulders e e c e formed on them, which abut against the two intermediate brake-bars C C, and operate in conjunction with the ends of the rods torelease the brakes. F represents a hanger, which is sey Abelow the fulcrum-pin h, so that, if the car is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow s in Fig. l, one of the shoulders c and one of the extremities of each releasing rod E will press against their respective brake-barsC, and y force the brake-shoes free from the wheels. lf t the car be moved in the opposite direction to that indicated by the arrow referred to, the brakes will also be released from their wheels by the action of the rods E E.

It should be understood that the cars in a train are all connected together by means of suitable couplings applied to the projecting ends of the draw bars, so that when an engineer cuts off steam to stop the train all the brakesprings D D through the entire train will opL erate on the brakes, and forcibly press the shoes b in contactwith the peripheries of the wheels. When a train is in motion, either for-` ward or backward, the brakes are all released from their wheels.

It will be seen that the springs D D not only apply the brakes, but that they also operate t as buiers to prevent" shocks and concussions while a train is in mation, an l also while mal'.- ing` up a train. v

If it should be desired for any reason to release the wheels of a car from its brakes, such car not vbeing in a train, this can be readily done by means of a lever, L, (shown in Fig. 2,) which is pivoted to the car-bed, and connected Yby an oblong slot and a pin to the draw-bar J.

The outer end of the lever L may be connected to a winding-up rod by means of a chain, and

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the releasing rods E, vibrating lever G, and the swinging; brake-bars G carrying brake-shoes b, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The longitudinally-movable draw-bar J, in combination with the lever Gr, releasing-rods E, applied to brakes which are held in contact with the wheels by means of springs, substantially as described. l

3. The releasing-rods E E, pivoted to a vibrating lever, Gr, to release the brakes from the wheels, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my naine in the presence of two witnesses.

- E. I?. HARRINGTON.

Witnesses:

OHAs. B. STEELE, Jos. B. LooMrs'. 

